Temper, Temper
by PrewettSong
Summary: Harper Rowe, a Gryffindor in her 5th year, leads a relatively normal life... until she meets the Weasley twins.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N- Just the usual stuff, please read and review! They really do make people write faster!_

**Disclaimer- Do you really think I'm JKR? "Excuse me, sir; yes this fan needs a room in St. Mungo's. Thank you." (This goes for the entire story since I'm too lazy to keep typing it over and over again.)**

Harper Rowe was arguing with her brother. _Again._

They were in their room at the Leaky Cauldron, and their shouting match could be heard from down the hall. People occasionally stuck their heads out of the doors, glaring at their door with clear irritancy before returning to their own individual pursuits.

Behind the door was a very interesting scene. A girl long, straight black hair was shouting at her considerably taller brother, who had clambered onto one of the beds and now stood there with a bag in his hands. He was rummaging through the contents, trying to ignore the shouting being done by the girl.

"Henry, I swear I will _kill_ you if you don't give me that _right now!"_ The boy, Henry, waved a dismissive hand in her direction.

"Calm down, Harper. I just need to borrow a Galleon or two for school supplies; honestly I don't see what your problem is."

"My_ problem,"_ Harper said, planting a hand on her hip and jutting it out, "is that you think you can just rummage though all my stuff! What if something personal was in there?" Henry straightened up and looked at the cracked roof as if seeking patience.

"Harper, we're _twins_ for Merlin's sake-"

"_Don't even-"_

"Godric, Harper! If you're this upset about something so simple-"he broke off, and then waggled his eyebrows at her. "That's a very interesting thought. What does my little sister have in here that's so mortifying?"

Harper scowled at him, and his eyes widened. A grin broke across his features and he started to chortle merrily. "Oh, it must be pretty bad if you're being all" he gestured towards her tense, angry body with his hand, "_this _about it. What could it be?"

Harper threw her hands in the air exasperatedly. "Henry, I'm a _girl! _I keep _all_ of my stuff in there, stuff you don't even want to think about! That's my only bag you nitwit, I keep toiletries and such in there!"

The bag was hastily thrown into her arms, and Henry had a disgusted look on his face. "I am _so _glad I didn't find that out in a different way," he said, wiping his hands on his pants.

"And two more things," Harper said, throwing her bag onto the bed across the room. "One, Dad literally just told us five minutes ago that he was going to Gringotts for some money for school shopping." Henry smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, well, I guess I didn't hear him," he said. "We were eating breakfast at the time, weren't we?" With a roll of her eyes, Harper nodded. "Yeah, I wasn't listening. Oops."

"So I've noticed. The second thing is, you can _hardly_ call me your little sister. You're only older by a few hours."

"Every little bit counts," Henry said, "and I am going to use it against you for the rest of your days."

"Oh, how lovely," Harper said sarcastically. "I get to suffer this for the remainder of my life." Henry jumped down off of the bed and ruffled her hair enthusiastically.

"You're welcome. And your hair's still red; you really need to control your temper." Harper scowled at him again and closed her eyes, adopting a look of concentration. There was a barely audible pop, and her hair was short, curly and brown; an exact replica of her brother's own hair. "Better?" she asked.

"I make it look better."

Harper rolled her eyes and her hair lengthened. She tied it back in a high ponytail just as her father walked in.

Scott Rowe had long, straight brown hair tied back in a low ponytail, a crooked nose (it had been broken by a Slytherin in his fourth year), and very bright blue eyes. His face was shaped rather like a rectangle, long and squared. His chin was covered in a short stubble, and crooked wire glasses were perched high on his nose. He raised an eyebrow at the two of them.

"I heard you two were arguing again." Henry and Harper looked at each other. They had evidently forgotten that they had neighbors just across the hall. Their father gave the two of them a knowing look. "Next time, try whispering angrily instead of shouting. I'll get fewer complaints that way.

"Now, you're mum's waiting at Fortescue's with Theo. After we get some ice cream we'll get school supplies. How's that sound?"

"I don't know, Dad," said Henry with a long-suffering sigh. "It'll be hard work, eating ice cream so soon after breakfast. Right, Harp?"

Harper looked at him like he was insane. "Speak for yourself," she said indignantly. Then she spoke to her father. "I'll eat his ice cream for him." Then she ran out the door.

She heard her brother's indignant yells mingling with her father's laughter, and she giggled to herself as she came to the top of the staircase. Checking the stairs for people and seeing no one, she clambered onto the railing and slid down, laughing. Unbeknownst to her, her hair turned a brilliant shade of lime green as she landed, excitement from the slide pumping through her. She ran to the door, narrowly avoiding a family of redheads on their way in.

When Harper thought the last of them had come in, she made to run out the door and ran smack-bang into two more of them. She almost toppled backwards at the contact, but the two boys grabbed her forearms before she could.

"Whoops- careful-"

"Sorry 'bout that!"

Harper had to look up a little to see the boys' faces. They were identical in every way, from their hazel eyes to their long, freckly noses. Their hair was like that of the rest of their family, a very noticeable shade of red. They both wore large grins.

"Nice hair."

"Yeah, that's not a color you see every day."

With a gasp, Harper grabbed some of her hair and brought it in front of her eyes. The bright green was almost blinding, and definitely more noticeable than she was comfortable with. She felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment, and her hair coloring rapidly changed from lime green to magenta; the boys' eyes widened in surprise, their grins slipping a bit.

"Er- whoops," she said in a small voice. They twins (because that's what they obviously were) didn't move. "Well, ah, I have to be going now, so…." She forced her way between them and out into the alley. Harper didn't stop running until she standing, and breathing heavily, in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor.

Her mum found her with her hair still a bright shade of magenta, and she gave a small smile. "Your hair, dear. It's magenta again." Harper groaned, and it returned to brown.

Her mother held out a Galleon with an inviting smile.

"Buy an ice cream, sweetheart. I'll find you again when your father and brother get here."

"Thanks mum." Harper mumbled, accepting the gold. Her mother kissed her forehead and pushed her towards the counter.

Not two minutes later she was licking a Strawberry-Chocolate Frog cone, pondering her encounter in the Leaky Cauldron's doorway. She licked her cone pensively, nearly toppling out of her chair when she felt someone spin the chair around. Or, to be correct, two someones.

"Well, isn't this interesting! I seem to recall running to into this selfsame lady not twenty minutes ago! Do you recall, Gred?"

"I most certainly do, Forge, though if my mind serves me correctly last time she had green hair, didn't she?"

"Indeed she did! And then it changed from that striking color to something quite different, magenta actually."

"I rather liked the green better."

"As did I. what's your preference, miss, magenta or green?"

It took Harper a moment to realize that he had addressed the question to her. "Oh- er, well- I don't know, I haven't really thought about it before." The boy closest to her shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh well, that's okay. That was just small talk." He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her chair.

"Yes, now we can get down to more serious business." The other boy moved a little closer, putting a guiding hand on her back. They both directed her to a booth, pushing her lightly onto one bench while they sat on the one across from her. Harper licked her lips apprehensively.

"What serious business?" They gave her a knowing look.

"We saw your hair change madam. We want to know why we haven't noticed a Metamorphagus at Hogwarts before."

"So we'd like you to answer some of our questions for us, to see where we went wrong." They both leaned a little closer. The one on the left opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand, licking her ice cream.

"Before you ask me any questions," she said, licking her cone again. "I get to know your names." The twins shrugged their shoulders indifferently.

"Fair enough," they chorused. The one on the left pointed to himself. "I'm Fred, and he's George." When he introduced his twin he pointed to him. As soon as his twin finished saying his name, George added "the better looking twin."

Fred patted his brother's shoulder consolingly. "In your dreams, Georgie my boy. Now-" he stopped mid-sentence and stared at his nose, where a smear of strawberry ice cream had suddenly appeared. He then looked at Harper, who shrugged her shoulders. "I need to be able to tell you apart," she said by way of explanation, and George chuckled.

"Anyways," Fred started again, wrinkling his nose at the feeling of cold stickiness. "Question time. Name and house you were Sorted into?"

"Harper Rowe, Gryffindor," she replied promptly. Fred looked at George, who shrugged and shook his head saying "I don't recognize the name."

"I don't either. I feel rather ignorant though. A Gryffindor Metamorphagus, and we never noticed? Shame on us." George looked pensively at her, tapping his chin with a finger. His eyes had a faraway look in them. He was the one who asked the next question.

"Didn't you have a brother? I could've sworn there were two Rowes when we were Sorted…" Harper nodded in response.

"I'm a twin, too. I have a brother, but he's in Ravenclaw." George pumped his fist. "One to Forge," he said. "Score: one to zero."

"Wait a minute, we're keeping score?" Fred asked.

"So long as I'm winning, the answer to that question is yes."

"So if I'm winning, we aren't keeping score?" George pretended to ponder his brother's question, and then he nodded jovially.

"Sounds about right." Fred stuck his bottom lip out and pouted.

While the duo was distracted, Harper (who had finished her ice cream cone by this time) decided she would try to sneak away. Throughout the conversation she had been edging steadily closer to the open aisle way, and now she made a break for it. Standing up she began to work her way to the door.

When she had reached the doorway the twins finally noticed that she'd gone. They whipped their heads to look around the shop and saw her slipping out into Diagon Alley.

"Oi!" Harper heard one of them call. "We still have questions!" she turned and saw them vacating the booth and quickly ducked into the Quidditch supplies store next door. The boys rushed out of the doorway, necks craning for a glimpse of her, but she remained hidden. Thinking they had spotted her, they both rushed into a quill store some ways down the street. Sighing thankfully, she walked out of the crowded Quidditch store and went to find her mother.

Her family was still outside Fotescue's, getting their own ice cream cones. Her mum saw her and smiled, waving her over. Harper wove her way around the witches and wizards doing their shopping and to her mother's side.

"Henry and your father just got here, so we're going to buy their ice cream really quick." Seeing her daughter's restless face, Celeste Rowe dug into her pockets with her free hand (she was holding four year-old Theodore's hand so as not to lose him in the crowd; he tended to wander about given the chance to) and shoved some Galleons into her daughter's hands. "Why don't you go start your shopping; see if any of your friends are here, I'm sure you'd love to see them." Harper smiled gratefully.

"Thanks mum." Her mother tugged her forward and kissed her forehead before shooing her off.

"Just remember to behave, dear. Have fun!" Harper waved and then she had disappeared into the crowd.

She quickly acquired her quills, ink, robes, potions ingredients, and books before heading to a small, secluded store in a quiet section of the alley. It was a candy store, Wilmington's Sweets by name, and it was very small and rarely busy. Harper stepped in with a smile as the friendliness and sugary sweetness of the air pervaded her senses.

Though the store front itself was small, the inside was much bigger than it appeared to the naked eye. The walls, stacked with all of the sweets anyone's heart could possibly desire, seemed to soar upward. The helpers were dressed in soft caramel colored robes and were very cheerful. Harper took a deep, contented breath through her nose, her smile widening. She was in heaven on earth; who wouldn't be?

She saw some new chocolate candies by the windows and made her way over, picking up a package to examine the label. She was completely relaxed, and then she heard a familiar voice outside the window.

"We've looked everywhere, Fred. She's obviously gone." Her head shot up, and there they were: the red-headed twins, Fred and George.

As her head shot up, one of them turned to look at the window in passing, strawberry ice cream smeared on his nose. Fred. Through the _o _in Wilmington's, they made accidental eye contact, and Fred's face split in a large grin. He tugged on his twin's arm, pulling him back. "I don't think we should give up just yet, George."

"Oh? And what makes you say that, brother o'mine?" Fred pointed to the window. George's eye followed the path his twin's finger took, and when he saw Harper he grinned as well. He waved cheerily at her and she blushed. She had really been trying to postpone any second encounters. The twins made their way to the candy shop door, throwing it wide and making the small bell that announced customers ring merrily.

"Why hello, Harper! If it isn't just the person we were looking for!"

"Yes, we lost track of you for a while there, didn't we?"

"We did indeed! But that's no matter now, because we've found you again!"

The way Fred and George talked was making Harper dizzy. They kept switching back and forth without pause, and so smoothly that it could be believed that they had rehearsed it. A moment later they were by her sides, linking their arms through hers.

"So shall we pick up where we left off? If I recall correctly I'm still winning." Harper wrenched her arms away from the boys and made to walk away, but Fred jumped ahead of her before she made it five paces.

"Not so hastily, now, one might almost think you were trying to get away from us!"

"I am." Fred placed a hand over his heart and staggered backwards as though mortally injured.

"I am sorely wounded," he said in a faux pained voice. "You do me a great injustice." Harper pushed past him, starting to get rather irritated. Her brown hair darkened slightly, but no one noticed. She made her way to a barrel on the other side of the store and made a show of inspecting the label.

There was no sound of them following her, and she began to think that they had left her alone. She relaxed a little, only to tense up again when someone pointed a hand over her shoulder.

"What are these?" George asked, peering around her. Fred craned his neck so as to see past her.

"I don't recognize them. Must be really old or something." Harper waved their hands away and took a small paper bag from a hook on the wall. She began to fill the paper bag with a small scoop, Fred and George breathing down her neck the whole time. She felt the end of her short patience drawing closer. She could practically see the edge where it turned into fiery words of frustration.

"So what are they Harper?" George piped up, and she sighed. It's really quite hard to ignore people when they ask you a direct question.

"They're like an older version of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. They're not that much different, but I prefer these." Harper pushed past them again and went to a stand of red Licorice Wands. They boys followed her, apparently not noticing her steadily darkening hair.

"You like Red Licorice Wands?" Fred's incredulous voice sounded from behind her. She could practically feel her hair turning black. For Merlin's sake, couldn't they just leave her alone before she lost her temper?

"Yes," she muttered through gritted teeth. "Why do you even care?" Though no one could see it, her eyes flashed an ice-blue color before turning hazel again.

"We're just curious people."

"No need to bite our heads off about it, sheesh." The last part was barely muttered under George's breath, but Harper still heard it, and she finally snapped.

She knew she didn't really have any reason to, but she could get ticked off very easily by some things and the twins had been pushing all the right buttons to make her explode. Her hair was suddenly all black and extremely straight, and when she turned to see the wide eyed duo her eyes were icy-blue and clearly showed her irritation. Harper had become rather frightening within the space of a few seconds, and the twins took a step back upon seeing her sudden transformation.

"Honestly," she hissed through her teeth, "in the name of Godric, just tell me what you want and go away!"

Before the shell-shocked boys could react, some one called her name from the doorway.

"_Harper!"_ Harper was suddenly attacked by two girls her age, one with blond hair and the other with auburn. She was soon lost in a flurry of hugs and flying hair, and someone else grabbed the twins arms from behind, dragging them towards the door. Once they were out in the alley and safely away from the ticked off teenage girl she turned to face them both.

She had long, straight, shiny black hair that fell down to the bottom of her shoulder blades and warm brown eyes. Her skin was smooth and tanned, and she looked athletic. She reminded the twins a little bit of their friend Angelina Johnson.

"They should calm her down a little, or at least make her forget that she was mad at you guys for now." She said, gesturing to the candy shop.

"So we're not going to get killed?"

"At least not soon, at any rate?" The girl smiled at them.

"Not just yet she won't. Just watch which buttons you push around her. Anyways, My name's Angelica, and I assume you two are the Weasley twins?" Fred and George seemed pleased that they were recognized, puffing their chests up proudly.

"That's us, the most charming-"

"handsome-"

"intelligent-"

"amazing-"

"fascinating-"

"What they _meant _to say was that they are extremely irritating, loud and obnoxious." Said a voice from behind them, and Fred and George spun around.

Harper stood with her hands on her hips, her hair still black and her eyes still pale. The twins immediately hid behind Angelica.

"So much for safe," George muttered under his breath. Harper heard his muttered comment and glared.

"Aw, c'mon," said Fred cajolingly, poking his head out from behind Angelica. "Are you really going to kill us Harper?" She just looked at him, and he winced. "Ouch. Well, I hope you'll at least introduce us to your pretty friends first."

"Yeah," George agreed enthusiastically, poking his head as well. "I think that's an excellent idea!"

"Well," growled Harper, "I don't, so I think I'm just going to kill you now and then-"

"Oh come on, Harper, be a doll and introduce us. Its good manners," said the blond girl. Harper didn't say anything, so the girl introduced herself and her auburn-haired companion. "Alrighty then, I'll do it for you. I'm Peyton Piccard, and this lovely lady," she said, pulling the other girl forward, "is London Caulaincourt."

"Pleased to meet you," said London, holding out her hand. Fred looked at it, considering taking it, but Harper was still glaring daggers at him and his twin, so he decided against it.

"Pleased to meet you as well," Fred said, "I'm Fred, this is George-"

"and we would take your hand, but you just so happen to be in a very close proximity to Miss Harper right now, and we're fairly certain she'd still love to rip our heads off." George finished. London giggled, and George beamed at the noise.

"As it so happens, I need your help finding some of our course books," Angelica said, stepping away from the twins and towards Harper. "So let's be off. And fix your hair, you're scaring people," she added, dragging the Metamorphagus away to Flourish and Blott's.

"You owe her big time," said Peyton once they had disappeared into the bookshop, Harper's hair once again brown and curly.

"Yeah," London agreed, "she is _not _fun to deal with when she's angry."

"We most definitely learned that today," George agreed.

"Yeah, we'll watch ourselves next time," said Fred. Peyton looked at them disbelievingly.

"After that you're still going to talk to her? She'll rip your lungs out!" Fred waved a dismissive hand.

"We'll be careful. She seems like loads of fun." London shrugged her shoulders noncommittally, and George cocked and eyebrow.

"Are you trying to tell us that she _isn't _fun?" he asked, and London shook her head.

"No, she's fun, but only if she's comfortable around you. Otherwise she can appear a bit dull."

"Yeah right," Fred scoffed. "A Metamorphagus, dull? Impossible." Peyton looked at her watch and yelped.

"London, we've got to go! You're parents are waiting for us!" London clapped a hand to her mouth.

"Merlin's beard, I completely forgot! Sorry boys, we've got to run! See you on the train!" and they ran off, disappearing into the throng of people. George watched them go with a smile, and Fred elbowed him, raising and eyebrow.

"You fancy one of them _already_, George? Godric's ghost, that didn't take long!" George elbowed him back frowning.

"I don't _fancy _her, she just seems interesting, and that's all!"

"Whatever you say, Georgie. I bet you'll be snogging one of them by the end of the term."

"Shut it. Race you back!" And with that they tore off through the crowd, heading for the Leaky Cauldron.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N- I'll be posting chapters as I finish them, but I'll try to update at least once a week. Please read & review, I'll give you virtual brownies!_

_Thanks to my totally awesome reviewer, __**fantasyblast**__!_

Harper made way along the train, searching for the compartment her friends were in. Finally, near the end of the train, she found them sitting among heaps of candy from the trolley. Harper opened the sliding door and sat next to Peyton, snatching up a Chocolate Frog as she did so.

"So," she said, biting off a back leg while speaking, "where's Angelica? I thought she said she was riding with us."

"She is," London nodded, "she just went to go find some people. And don't talk with your mouth full, it's rude."

"Oh come on," Harper said, rolling her eyes and taking another bite. "You don't actually care, we all know that." London stuck her nose in the air.

"What if I do actually care, hmm? What will you do then?"

"Keep eating and talking."

"Well then," she said, "I guess it's a good thing I really don't care, or else you'd be kicked out of our compartment."

"You wouldn't actually kick us out," said Peyton, biting into a licorice wand. "You love us too much." London raised an eyebrow.

"Don't be so sure," she said, and Peyton pretended to be highly offended. She clutched her chest in mock agony and cried "You wound me! There are no words to describe my pain!" she was silenced when a Chocolate Frog bounced off of her forehead and into her lap. "Hey, thanks. I knew I liked you.

"I also like your hair right now, Harper. It's all light pink and straight and stuff."

"Oh, is it?" Harper pulled some hair into her line of sight to find that it was indeed a pastel pink. "I wasn't paying attention this morning."

"It's a very _romantic _color, wouldn't you say London?" London nodded and both girls looked at her expectantly, Peyton resting her chin on her hand and London waggling her eyebrows.

"Oh come on," Harper groaned, "aren't I allowed to have pink hair without you guys questioning it?"

"Of course not," said Peyton, "Usually you hate pink."

"Maybe I've had a change of heart?" Even though it was a statement, Harper said it like a question. London rolled her eyes.

"You can't possibly think we would believe that. Now spill."

"What are we spilling?" asked a voice from the doorway. Harper looked up and then rushed to wrap her arms around Angelica's waist.

"Thank Merlin you showed up, they were interrogating me!" She mumbled, constricting Angelica to the point where she could hardly breathe.

"Interrogating you?"

"About what?" Harper tensed at the sound of the identical voices and peered around Angelica. As her eyes narrowed, George quickly stepped behind Fred, using his brother as a shield. Harper and Fred had a bit of a stare down, neither of them backing down to the other, until Fred finally cleared his throat and spoke.

"You're squeezing your friend to death." Harper quickly released Angelica, who rubbed her ribs ruefully. Harper's hair turned a darker shade of pink and her cheeks flushed, showing her slight embarrassment. Angelica slipped past her and into the compartment, sitting down on a bench and popping a Bertie Bott's bean into her mouth, looking between the redheaded twins and Harper with interest.

George poked his head around his twin. "So, what are they interrogating you about?"

"None of your business," Harper snapped, and George disappeared behind his brother again.

"Oh come off it, Harper," said Fred, taking a step towards her. "You can't honestly still be mad at us."

"Oh really? Try me." Harper's voice dared him to make another move, and Fred did, stepping forward again so that they were only a pace apart. Noticing Harper's preoccupation with his twin, George took the opportunity to slip into the compartment and sat beside London. Peyton tossed him a licorice wand and he readied himself to watch the fireworks.

"You really don't have a reason to be angry," Fred said, annoyance shining in his eyes. "We were just asking a couple of questions and you're acting like we did something bigger, like put fireworks under your seat or something."

"We did that to our Aunt Muriel once," George whispered in London's ear. "Mum nearly tore our heads off." London giggled.

"You were treating me like an object, something you can just own and do whatever you please with." Harper's hair was black by now, and her hazel eyes were gradually growing paler and bluer.

"No we weren't!" Fred threw his hands up in the air in frustration. "You could have walked away at any time!"

"Which I did, and you chased me!"

"We were curious! People like you aren't all that common, you know!"

"Oh just give it a rest!" Someone called from the next compartment over, sticking his head out the door. Harper pointed a warning finger at him.

"Don't you get involved in this!" He recoiled and slammed his door shut, leaving them to resume their argument. However, Fred wasn't where had been last. On the contrary, he was sitting in their compartment, next to Peyton, and eating a chocolate frog. Harper bristled, and Angelica noticed her anger.

"Harper, we're going for a walk," she said, standing up.

"What? No, I don't want to!" But Angelica grabbed her arm and walked down the train, dragging Harper with her. Shoving her friend into an empty compartment, Angelica slammed the door behind her. She stood in front of the door with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Talk."

"Well, there was a discount at Madame Malkin's the other day. Dress robes are half off till October." Harper said innocently, and Angelica gave her a look that said there was no way she would be getting out of this.

"You know what I mean, Harper. Now what's your problem with the Weasley twins? They really didn't do that much!" Harper stood up with a flurry of robes, looking up at her taller friend, though the distance continued to get smaller until they stood eye to eye.

"They bother me. I don't like boys, Angel." Harper added the last part with a slightly lower voice. "You know my reasons, they haven't changed."

Angelica put her hands on her friend's shoulders. "Really?" Harper nodded, lowering her gaze so that she was staring at the tips of her shoes. "Sweet Merlin Harper, I had no idea he hurt you that badly! What did he even do?"

"I don't really want to talk about it," Harper mumbled, still inspecting the floor and her shoes. Angelica tilted her head up with her hand so that they looked each other in the eyes once again.

"Can't you tell me anything?" she whispered. Harper shook her head, her blue eyes slowly darkening to a darker blue-green as they filled with tears. Her hair was also changing, lightening to a mousy brown color. "I want to help you, any way I can. And I won't let them hurt you, I swear."

"You saw what happened, there's nothing to explain. And you guys can be friends or whatever," Harper said, scrubbing at her eyes with the heel of her hand. "Just don't expect me to get friendly. If I want to, I will, but I doubt that will happen, so don't push me." Harper gently sidestepped her concerned friend, sliding the door open.

Angelica watched her walk back down the train, back towards the compartment that held the twins, and thought over the mistake encounter with Harper and her last boyfriend, which she had hoped had ended Harper's fear to be around other boys. Evidently, it hadn't.

Harper paused momentarily outside the compartment, closing her eyes and willing her hair to change to a less dreary color. It became a pretty light turquoise, and she reentered the compartment.

Her friends were laughing at the antics of the twins, and didn't notice at first when she came in. Fred and George were hurling Bertie Bott's Beans at each other, and George deftly caught one in his mouth just before she walked past to sit by the window. Fred scowled at his twin.

"I hope that was something awful," he said, and chewed tentatively at first before cracking a grin at his brother.

"No such luck, brother o' mine. This one just so happens to be pudding flavored." He was nailed by another jelly bean bouncing off his nose and fell dramatically into London's lap.

"Gerroff me, you great lump," she giggled, pushing him to the floor. George scowled at her from his new position on the floor and sat by Peyton.

"Fine, I'll sit by Peyton. She won't shove me off, she loves me. Don't you, sweetheart?" Peyton raised and eyebrow at him, and George pretended to offended. He stood up, stamping his foot dramatically, and sat by Harper, who was determinedly staring out the window.

"Fine, I'll sit by Harper. She doesn't look as scary as she did before." He draped an unwanted arm over her shoulder and she tensed. "Relax love; I only bite Fred when he ticks me off."

"Yeah he does," Fred grumbled to Peyton. "It hurts, too."

Harper was uncomfortable, the weight of George's arm brought back memories that weren't ones she cared to remember.

Harper threw off George's arm by standing up suddenly. "I think I'm going to take a walk," she said, trying to keep her voice level. "Don't come looking for me." And she walked purposefully out the door.

Fred watched her go curiously. "I wonder what's got her knickers in a twist," he mused.

Angelica saw her friend exit the compartment not five minutes later and come hurrying back. She opened the door and beckoned for Harper to join her. Harper flung her arms around her neck and burst into tears, soaking Angelica's shirt. Angelica hurried to close the door and sat down on one of the benches, rubbing her friend's back and murmuring comforting nonsense.

"Shh, it's alright honey, it's alright," she crooned, keeping her arms wrapped around her friend and resting her cheek on Harper's head. Angelica let Harper cry and explain through her tears, gathering tidbits of what was going on with her distressed friend.

"So let me get this straight," Angelica started slowly. "You can't be around the twins, right?" Harper nodded and sniffed, peeling herself away from Angelica's chest. "And it's because you're still afraid?"

"Terrified," Harper whispered. "I know it's terribly un-Gryffindor like, but I can't help it. I managed to cover it up when I first met them, but I can't do it all day every day!" her voice was slightly hysterical. Angelica drew her back into her chest, wrapping her arms around her in a protective way.

"They're really nice, Harper, I'm sure they wouldn't-"

"I thought Jace seemed nice, and look how that turned out!" Harper interrupted. Angelica quieted her.

"Harper, I swear I won't let anyone hurt you like that ever again." Harper looked down at her toes, and Angelica tilted her chin up with a finger. "I swear I won't let it happen. Do you believe me?" Harper sniffed quietly and nodded and Angelica squeezed her close again. "What do say to finding the trolley and buying some chocolate frogs? I think I'm hungry enough that I could eat a hippogriff."

"That sounds great," Harper said, pulling away from her. "And you can tell me about your summer camp. You went to learn about working with dragons, right?"

Angelica's eyes lit up at the subject. "It was amazing!" As they walked out the door she threw an arm around her friend's shoulders and babbled her ear off about how fascinating the Norwegian Ridgeback was. By the time the train stopped and they were in the carriages heading to the castle, Harper was fairly certain she knew enough about dragons to last her a lifetime.


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh my Godric," Peyton groaned, flopping face first onto her bed. "I am so stuffed."

"Maybe one day you'll learn not to eat so much in one sitting," London said from her bed, idly flipping a page of the latest Witch Weekly.

"It's not my fault! They make the food so amazing, how am I not supposed to eat as much as possible!" Peyton argued, her voice muffled because she was still lying on her face. There was a moment's pause, and then she sat up with wide eyes. "Do you think they're trying to fatten us up?" she asked in a whisper.

"And why would they do that?" London asked, tenting her magazine over her face.

"Because the teachers want to eat us, of course!" Peyton cried, flapping her arms. "Can't you just picture Snape sitting up at the teacher's table, and then a _student_ appears out of nowhere on his plate with an apple stuffed in their mouths? Doesn't it make sense?"

"It's the same thing every year," London sighed resignedly. "You eat too much at the feast and start thinking Snape is going to eat the students, and nothing happens. It's routine now."

"Fine," Peyton huffed, "but when someone ends up on the table I get to say I told you so." A pillow flew at her from across the room, catching her squarely in the face.

"Shut up," Harper grumbled from her bed. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

"But Harper, you can't sleep yet!" London sat up to look at her, the Witch Weekly magazine fluttering to the ground. "We have to do something special for the first night back!"

"Then go do something special," Harper said, closing her eyes. "I'm not stopping you."

"But you have to do it with us!" London cried running and jumping onto her friend's bed. "It won't be the same without you there with us!"

"I threw my pillow at Peyton; I think that should count as my part."

"You throw your pillow at us every night, that's not special!" London shook her shoulder. "Come on Harper, pleeeaaassse?" Harper's only reply was to shrug off her hand and face the wall.

"Fine," London huffed, "you leave me with no choice." Harper felt the bed shift as she stood up and heard her footsteps walking away. She sighed in relief; maybe she would actually be allowed to sleep for once. Then she heard the footsteps come running back.

"Stand back, everyone!" London yelled, and then a glass of cold water was hurled at Harper's huddled form.

Harper jumped out of her bed with a shriek, shaking her head frantically to try and get rid of the cold wetness. Her actions sent drops of water spinning around the room, sprinkling her friends as the covered their faces with their arms for some sort of protection.

Her hair had turned a brilliant shade of light blue at the surprise attack, but now it was fading again to the brown she usually wore. She stared at London in shock then wiped her hair out of her eyes and growled in an almost threatening way.

"You are _so _going to pay for that." Harper stepped forward and London bolted out the door and ran down the stairs to the Common Room. Harper bounded after her, sitting on the railing and sliding down, her hair turning the same shade of bright green it had been in the Leaky Cauldron before she ran into the Weasley twins.

London ran and jumped onto one of the couches, where Angelica was sitting across from the Weasley twins. "Hide me!" she squeaked, and at the looks she was getting from all three, she explained her predicament. "I may or may not have splashed cold water on Harper while she was trying to sleep. Now hide me!" But it was too late.

"I can see you!" Harper yelled, jumping down from the railing. She strode purposefully over to the couch and hauled London up by the arms. "Come along," she said in a falsely sweet voice. "We have some things to attend to." London gave them a pleading look over her shoulder as she was marched away.

George looked after them with a small grin on his face, and then he turned to Angelica. "Is she like that often?" he asked, quirking his head in the direction Harper and London had gone.

"Which one?" Angelica grinned. "Harper or London?"

"Harper," George replied. "She was all jumpy on the train, and now she's messing around like a normal teenage girl."

"Have you ever thought that maybe she's just being a 'normal teenage girl'?" Fred asked, making air quotes with his fingers. "Girls tend to have mood swings, Gred."

George swatted his twin on the backside of the head. "I know that, dimwit, but she seemed… frightened, maybe. It was weird." He turned back to Angelica. "Is that normal for her?"

"Umm…" Angelica started hesitantly. She didn't want to betray Harper's secret, but she didn't want to lie outright to the twins. "She just… well, she has personal space issues."

_It's not the whole truth, but at least I didn't have to lie, _she thought to herself.

"Okay," George said, seeming to either not notice or ignore her hesitance. Fred however gave her a curious look. She stared right back at him, one eyebrow raised as if to ask _do you need something?_ Eventually his look eased off, and she smiled inwardly to herself. She loved being able to stare people down.

George pulled out a game of Exploding Snap, challenging her and his twin to see who could get the most matches before getting singed. Seeing as all three were rather competitive, the match went on well into the night and could have continued until daylight, but then the portrait hole opened with a bang and someone stumbled in.

Harper hauled London up to their dormitories and dragged her to the bathroom. Once they were in there she turned on the faucet and swiftly put her hands under it, flinging the water at her friend. London soon pleaded for mercy, which was reluctantly given to her only after she promised Harper some Chocolate Frogs.

As Harper left the bathroom, she heard London mutter something about "aggressive rainbow-heads", and she laughed to herself as she made her way out of the portrait hole and into the hallway.

"Don't be too late, dear," the Fat Lady called after her and Harper acknowledged her comment with a nod as she began to quietly roam the hallways.

Harper had traversed most of the castle at one point or another, and now she made way up to the Astronomy Tower. It was a place where she could clear her head for a while, a place to think, and also a place to heal. She leaned on the balcony and closed her eyes, breathing in the clear night air.

"Well, well," said a voice that she had heard to often before, "what have we here? A Gryffindor, out of bed after curfew? How interesting." Harper spun around to see the owner of the voice. A tall boy with blonde hair and green eyes stepped out of the shadows. "Long time, no see, Harper. It's been too long."

"Stay away from me," Harper said harshly, her ands gripping the rail behind her tightly. The boy stepped closer. "I said, get away!" she cried again, reaching for her wand. The boy just chuckled.

"You couldn't actually hurt me, Harper. The best thing for you to do right now is run away." He stepped aside, giving her a clear path to the door and down the ladder that would lead her back to the common room and safety. "Go on."

So she did. Harper bolted past him, through the door, down the ladder, and along the corridor as fast as she could. The boy's voice haunted her and his laughs followed her down the halls. She didn't stop sprinting until she reached the portrait hole, and she crashed through without a moment's hesitation, interrupting Angelica and the Weasley twin's game of cards. Angelina immediately jumped up and rushed to her, wrapping her arms around Harper as she gasped for breath.

"What is it?" Fred asked from somewhere behind Angelica, getting to his feet and walking up to them. "Is she going to be alright?" Angelica didn't answer him.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" she murmured. "Just tell me what's wrong."

"It was him," Harper said shakily, her hair stark white with fright. "It was Jace."

_A/N: Okay I want to apologize because I feel like these chapters are taking me FOREVER to write, so yeah, sorry. I'll try to do this faster. Also, I am thinking about writing a Doctor Who fic. If anyone would be interested in something like that, please say so because I don't just want to update a story for myself because I'll feel stupid._

_Thanks to my supermegafoxyawesomehot reviewer __**TheMaximumExperience**__! Why don't y'all follow her lead and review because I really do write faster with encouragement!_


	4. Chapter 4

Angelica tugged Harper closer to her chest as Fred asked in a confused voice "Jace? Who's Jace, and why is it bothering Harper?"

"I was so _scared_," Harper whispered, and she sounded disgusted with herself. "I just ran! What the hell was I thinking? How could I be so stupid?! He thinks I'm scared of him now!" by the time she finished talking she was practically yelling at herself. Angelica held her at arms length.

"Harper, that wasn't stupid-"

"But it _was_!" Harper said angrily, throwing off her friend's gentle touch. "I don't want him to think I'm going to let him push me around, but I just showed him that he can! Idiot!" she told herself, moving to smack her forehead with the palm of her hand. Fred grabbed her wrist just before she did and she glared at him. Her hair had changed from white to black and her eyes were icy blue as her anger overtook her.

"Get off!" she hissed, but Fred tightened his grip, grabbing her other wrist as well. She tried to shove him off but he was stronger than she was. Her impossibly blue eyes glared into his mischievous brown ones, but for once they looked serious. With a sharp exhale from her nose to show her irritation, Harper stopped struggling.

"Thank you," Fred said quietly. "Now, who is Jace?"

"It's none of your business," Harper said coldly. No one else needed to know about her past; even Angelica didn't know the entirety of what he'd done.

"He just sent one of my friends running as though she feared for her life!" Fred exclaimed. "I think George and I have some right to know!"

"We only just met a few days before the end of summer break," Harper said quietly. "I hardly even know who you are. How can I classify you as a friend?" Fred's jaw dropped, and Harper took advantage of his moment of shock to free herself.

"What happens to me is my concern and my concern alone," she said calmly. "If I choose to share it with you then I will, but right now I will deal with this on my own. Good night." And with that she went up the stairs to the dormitory.

"Sheesh," George murmured. "Independent much?" He turned to Angelica, who had sat on the couch and was braiding a small strand of her hair, a nervous habit she had developed once the stress of homework set in.

"Can you tell us anything?" George asked quietly, squatting by her feet to look up at her face. Fred was still having trouble closing his mouth at the complete rejection he had just faced, and was staring up the stairs to the girl's dormitory.

"She won't tell me everything," Angelica said quietly. "Jace was her boyfriend last year and they seemed happy together, but after a while Harper started to look really stressed, flinching and jumping at anything and everything. I was suspicious, but she insisted everything was fine, that she was okay." She took a deep breath and plunged forward, and by now Fred was listening to the story as well.

"One day I noticed that she was late to lunch so I went to go find her. I was passing a closed classroom when I heard someone shouting, yelling at someone else to stop. It sounded pretty violent and I heard a crash as something shattered against the wall." Angelica continued on in a sort of daze, reliving the memory as she spoke.

"_Jace, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, please I know it was wrong-"Harper was forced to duck as another projectile was thrown at her head, smashing against the wall behind her. Neither she nor Jace noticed the door slowly being opened._

"_Please, just stop," Harper begged her voice hoarse. "I swear I didn't tell-"_

"_THEN WHY DO THEY KEEP ASKING?" Jace roared, finally catching his elusive prey and lifting her up by the front of her shirt. He shook her forcefully before dropping her to the ground and running a hand angrily through his hair. In his fury he aimed a kick at her, and she curled around the spot he had hit with a gasp and a moan. He kicked her again, relishing in her helpless position._

"_Hey!" called an indignant voice from the doorway. Jace looked up from Harper's struggling form and saw Angelica standing in the doorway. Her eyes held a mixture of shock, fear and anger. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"_

_Harper had managed to get on her hands and knees, and she wiped at a bloody nose with the back of her hand. "Angelica, don't," she croaked, and Jace smirked at her. _

"_Listen to her, Angelica," he said, "just go to lunch, Harper will be along in a moment."_

"_You're hurting her!" Angelica said furiously, taking a step forward. "Leave her alone!"_

"_Angelica, just go to lunch," Harper said, pushing herself to her feet. She gave her friend a crooked smile, showing a broken tooth that spilled a small amount of blood around her mouth and stained her teeth dirty red. "Look, I'm fine. I'll be there in a minute."_

"_You are NOT fine! Look at yourself!" Angelica exclaimed. Harper stopped smiling. "I'm a big girl, Angelica; I can take care of myself."_

"_Obviously not!"_

_Jace stepped threateningly towards her. "If you don't leave right now-"Harper threw herself in between them. _

"_Don't you dare hurt her," she growled. "I can take it myself, but you are not going to hurt my friends." Jace raised and eyebrow._

"_Did I say you could defend her? Get out of the way!"_

"_No." Harper's voice was firm. Jace's eyes darkened with rage and he made as if to hit her but Angelica got there first. She darted around Harper and gave Jace a punch that caught him under the jaw and knocked him backwards. She grabbed Harper's hand and went for the door._

"_Run!" she yelled._

"… When we got to the Great Hall she stopped and performed a few healing charms so that it looked as though nothing had happened. She thanked me, and then never mentioned it again until she met you to. She was scared, she didn't know if you guys would hurt her like Jace did."

Fred opened his mouth for an indignant reply. "George and I would never-"

"Yes, but she doesn't know that. She's afraid to get close to anyone nowadays, and when anyone tries she gets angry. She's really got quite a temper."

"Funny, I hadn't noticed." Angelica looked at the clock and stood. "Well, it's late, and we've got the first day of school tomorrow." The twins stood as well and made as if to go to their dormitories but Angelica caught their arms. "You can' tell her that you know," she said seriously. George smiled.

"We solemnly swear we won't tell."

"I'd hate to be us if Harper found out we knew," Fred added, and Angelica gave him a small smile. "G'night."

Harper ran a hand through her hair, stressed about the mountain of homework they had. They had been in school for a few weeks now, and she was already tired of the obnoxious amount of things they had to do. She needed a break.

She threw her books, quill, ink bottle, and half-finished essay into her bag and left the library. Her last period of the day was History of Magic; she would finish the essay and some other stuff then. Binns wouldn't even notice.

Not paying attention to where she was going, Harper ran smack bang into someone's chest. She stepped back, slightly stunned by the accidental impact of her nose into someone's chest.

"Sorry," she mumbled rubbing her nose and stepping around them. She didn't bother to check who it was, and didn't look back until they called after her.

"Aren't you even going to bother seeing who I am?" the voice was slightly amused. Harper looked back. Fred was giving her a wary sort of half grin, probably cautious after the whole how-do-I-know-you're-my-friend thing a couple weeks ago. She smiled back, and his grin became full.

"Hi Fred," she said, and Fred leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets. "Haven't seen you in a while. Where's George?" Fred pretended to look indignant.

"Am I not good enough for you?" he said, putting on a fake hurt expression. Harper rolled her eyes.

"I'm just not used to seeing you two separately," she said, "and as for you not being good enough I still hardly know you."

"You know me well enough to know I was Fred," he stated with a raised eyebrow. Harper shrugged.

"George doesn't talk to me, that's how I tell you apart. I really don't know you that well, which is kind of surprising," she mused. Fred gave her a confused look, so she explained. "You and George get a long really well with Peyton, Angelica, and London, so I'm around you a lot, I just don't know you." She turned to walk to class when Fred's voice stopped her again.

"We could get to know each other." Harper faced him with raised eyebrows. Fred rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he continued. "Not, like, romantically," he stammered, his ears turning red. Harper's eyebrows traveled further up her forehead. "Godric, I'm rubbish at this. Would you like to get a Butterbeer or something at the Three Broomsticks next Hogsmeade weekend? As friends?"

"Just as friends?" Harper asked to clarify. Fred nodded.

"Yeah, just so we can get to know each other." Harper considered it for a moment and then nodded.

"Sure. We'll figure out the details later, alright? Class starts in a couple minutes; I'll have to run to get there."

"You don't have to," Fred offered, "I know some passageways throughout the castle, I could show you one." Harper swallowed and shook her head.

"I don't like small places. I'll be fine." And with that she sprinted off to History of Magic.

_A/N: Well, there's another chapter down. I'm not super pleased with it, but please tell me what you think!_

_Thanks to __**potterphilosepher **__for their review!_


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